research Project Major Max Reck Status

[Paul R]

Good day,

I am happy to report that I have acquired all of the awards for Major Max Reck, as noted in his records and Soldbuch.  I received a huge packet of 75 pages of testimony pertaining to his participation in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, which is being translated by a friend.  I am awaiting a few other packets from various Bundesarkiv sources (Berlin namely), as well as a request sent to the Polish government.  Also, I have his service record.  I am now hoping that details of his service before and after Warsaw are present, as well as any possible award recommendation narratives.  

There are a few shoulder boards I need for a complete representation of his units as he wore the ranks.  I am much closer to the end than the beginning.  I am still very excited about this project and am happy the the $$ part is completed.

Paul

Edited May 20, 2016 by hucks216

[spanferkel]

Paul

that looks like quite the group!

when you have time would love to see scans of his Soldbuch!

nice research project ahead of you.

Jeremy

[Stuka f]

[Paul R]

Thank you!! I am thrilled to be done with the hard part.  Jeremy, here are images of the Soldbuch.  

Here are some highlights from his 40 page service record.  If interested, I can upload it all. 

[hucks216]

Good to see that the project has moved on greatly. Interesting to see that he has signed the final security check on page 15 of his own Soldbuch.

[Paul R]

His Soldbuch has him transferred to the Infantry-Ersatz Regiment in early 1945.  This brought him against the British.  I've been able to restore a sequence of events for the battles where Major Reck won his two TDBs.

On the 14th of April, 1945, the Battle for Alhorn took place. The British were trying to cross the Lethe River to take the town of Alhorn. This was prevented because of the destruction of a major bridge.

Here is an account:

http://www.worcestershireregiment.co...ed_b_r_n_elder

So based upon the above linked narrative, Max took out his two tanks somewhere between Alhorn and Großenkneten. The badges were award on the 18th of April, 1945. I have not been able to nail down an exact date or details of the battle for Großenkneten yet. Of note, there was a small airport that was utilized by the Luftwaffe during the last month or so of the war, so this would be a key position. I am shocked that I cannot find anything on the battle- yet.

I wrote to the British archives to see if they have any information on this series of battles.  

[hucks216]

It may be that you will need to track down the war diaries for the British units involved. It might also be possible that the battle is known by another name or what may of seemed to be a major battle was just another fight in a long series of similar combats so little was detailed about it "beyond X moved through to the town of Y where they encountered a German force which were eventually pushed back after a short sharp fight.."

Edited November 19, 2015 by hucks216

[Paul R]

Thanks Hucks!  

I sent an email to the British Archives back in October, and have not heard back from them at all.  Is there a good way to go about obtaining Archives from them?

I have 2002 pages of documents coming from the Polish archives this week.  That will be awesome!

[hucks216]

Judging by some posts on another forum that centers on British WW2 history, not hearing back from the British Archives is not a rarity so you are not the only one it seems.

Here is one thread about finding War Diaries at Kew - the person who has posted the first entry in the thread has a very good reputation for seeking files out for people so it might be worth contacting him via his site...  A Guide..

This is his website... ARCRE

Here is the National Archives catalogue on Excel...  National Archives Catalogue

Here is a section on War Diaries.. War Diaries

Here is a thread on WW2 Maps - not what you require but I have included it as the person who has started the thread looks up (or has) War Diaries. See his signature at the bottom of his post... Drew5233

 

That should be enough to get your teeth in to for a while! It sounds like you have a nice little treasure trove of documents on the way already!

[Paul R]

That is a lot of leads.  Thank you!!

[hucks216]

I knew that other forum member had a more detailed thread with regards to looking for War Diaries. Here it is with prices...

Drew5233

[Paul R]

Just seeing this... I've been away and busy with school, work. and etc... and now I am back!  :-)

 

Thank you Hucks!